Hot Rods short stop Brayden Taylor bats during a previous game at Bowling Green Ballpark on April 5.

The Bowling Green Hot Rods ran wild during Friday’s season-opening 6-1 win over Hudson Valley at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Behind three steals from leadoff hitter Chandler Simpson, the Hot Rods stole a franchise record seven bases — building an early cushion that easily held up behind a strong start from right-hander Trevor Martin and three relievers.

“The good aggressiveness on the basepaths paid off,” BG manager Rafael Valenzuela said. “We were going first to third, second to home. Chandler, when he gets on base it is complete chaos because you never know when he is going to go, but you know he is going to go.”

Simpson set the tone in the bottom of the first — drawing a walk and quickly stealing second. Xavier Isaac singled Simpson home to get BG on the board. Cooper Kinney added an RBI double, Hunter Haas had a sacrifice fly and Tatem Levins capped the scoring with an RBI single to make the score 4-0 after one.

“We stress being selectively aggressive,” Valenzuela said. “The guys were letting go some close pitches, but when he was in the zone he got hurt. That’s what we strive for. That’s what we talk about.”

Hudson Valley’s Jesus Rodriquez’s solo homer in the second was the only blemish on the night off Martin, who settled in for an impressive 2024 debut. Martin allowed five hits and struck out nine batters in five innings to earn the win.

“He was as advertised,” Valenzuela said. “Last year I didn’t get a chance to watch him pitch but every report that I read, every report that I got, was him being lights out and today he showed it. He was in the upper 90s in his fastball. He had a good feel for his secondary pitches and he just cruised through five innings. It was fun to watch.”

Martin’s biggest trouble came in the fourth when the Renegades loaded the bases with one out, but Martin struck out the next two to escape damage.

“It’s always fun to see how the guys are going to react when they have some traffic on the bases,” Valenzuela said. “The game didn’t speed up on him. He slowed the game down and he was able to get out of it.”

Isaac added a two-run single in the sixth for the Hot Rods, while JJ Goss, Drew Sommers and Kyle Whitten combined for four innings of scoreless relief — allowing two hits with five strikeouts.

BG pitching issued zero walks in Friday’s win.

Simpson finished 4-for-4 for the Hot Rods, while Isaac had two hits and three RBIs.

“(Isaac is) a special player,” Valenzuela said. “Every time he is in the box you know something is going to be electric. You just don’t know what you are going to get, but you know you are going to get something good.”